"My Life has been a Tapestry...."

Hi folks from Di.

Lets start with a little bit of something from the past:

"My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue.

An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view"

From Carole King "Tapestry" 1971, yes a looooong long time ago!

I have been thinking about all the crafts I have attempted over the years and remembered about 20 years ago when I discovered Kaffe Fassett. I was inspired by his completely free use of colour and I discovered tapestry or needlepoint!

I started with a kit, a needle and a pair of scissors but was so desperate to finish so I could try something different. This was my first attempt!

Ok, I have to remind you that I am NOT an artist but I do have have my own simple and naive style. I decided to do a story of my life in Cape Town. I bought a large piece of canvas, loads of tapestry wool and just started at the top and worked my way to the bottom. Every now and again I drew a shape that I wanted to stitch, but it was 90% free style. The story ended when my dear dad died so I included the St Andrews Cross in the bottom corner, and a representation of all of his dear friends and family. Then I started another story - my view of Cape Town from the glorious Table Mountain, through the city and harbour across the water to the golf course. And if you look carefully you will see me sinking a putt!!!

When the referendum was announced in South Africa way back in the nineties, I was on a peace mission so got my family and friends to make a small tapestry square depicting what peace meant to them. I called it "Patches of Peace" and the idea was again inspired by Kaffe Fassett.

Tapestry is enjoyable, therapeutic and very relaxing. However, I think I can use my "Patches of Peace" idea to do a large multi page layout of my family.

If you are keen to try tapestry, I have only two pieces of advice, do NOT do it at night unless you have a GREAT LIGHT and start with something no larger than 12 by 12 inches.

Thanks for visiting and get creating!

Love from Di XXX PS A big Hi from Caz!! I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest member of the Creative World team.......the very lovely JOANNE!! Joanne is a true inspiration to us all! She has a knack of finding the most interesting products to introduce to scrapping and altering. She has a style unto her own, that is a mix of the unusual and fascinating, and it's not only the craft of scrapping that interests Joanne, cross stitch is up high on her creating list. She is a GO-GO- GREETINGS design team member :) and was also part of the very creative team at Scrapbook Magic magazine. We are truely honoured to have Joanne on board and I know she will bring so much motivation and enthusiasm into all our Creative Worlds.